SHCHEKINOAZOT COMPANY SUPPORTED THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS IN POLENOVO [16.06.2017]

Shchekinoazot continues its tradition of charity and patronage in Tula by supporting the cultural centres in Yasnaya Polyana and in Zaoksky region, where the museum-estate of the Russian artist, master of historical, landscape and genre painting Vasily Polenov is located.

Here, in Polenov, the summer international arts festival "In Search of the Promised Land" will be held this year thanks to financial support from the company as a general sponsor and other partner organisations.

All visitors will have a rare opportunity to see the "Vasily Polenov in the Holy Land" exhibition dedicated to the artist's famous "Gospel Cycle"; rarities, such as the unique manuscript "Jesus of Galilee" and Vasily Polenov's "Tiberias", recently added to the museum's collection as gift from the Governor of Tula region Alexey Dyumin.

On 21 June at the Bolotov Dacha, as part of the festival, there will be a celebration of the music of French musician Jean-Pierre Smadja; Dgani Tsabari from Israel will sing jazz, soul and ethnic music; admirers of the writer Dina Rubina will be able to meet her at the evening event and music lovers will be able to listen to a concert of early musical instruments by La Villa Barocca ensemble. There will be exhibitions, lectures, children's workshops and performances for visitors to the festival in Polenovo from 25 June to 30 July. More information can be found on the museum's website and in the Shchekinsky Chemist newspaper.

Representatives of the media from Tula, Moscow and France, as well as from Shchekinoazot's media department, the main sponsor of the international festival, which is the most significant cultural event in Tula region, were the first to hear this news, inform the public and see the Vasily Polenov exhibition. The event was also attended by festival partners: representatives from the Ralph Goldman Jewish Cultural Centre (Moscow) and the Vasily Polenov Association (Paris).

The guests not only got see the new thematic exhibition, but were also shown round the master's house by the museum's director, the artist's great-granddaughter Natalia Polenova. They also visited the nature reserves by the Oka River, where Vasily Polenov loved to spend his time.

Natalia Polenova believes that "In search of the Promised Land" is perhaps the best epigraph to the whole of Russian culture and art. The artist Vasily Polenov was a "persistent continuer of these searches"; he spent his life trying to understand the "earthly path of the Christian doctrine in the history of the world and the history of our country"...

It is symbolic that the festival has been given this name and is held in the artist's ancestral home, which, after his long wanderings and searches by the ancient walls of Jerusalem, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in ancient Tiberias... in Palestine, Syria, Egypt, became the Promised Land itself. This is where he created his works – the results of his searches. And his world. Or rather, the worlds united in a kind big house.

A press conference was held for the media. Representatives from Vasily Polenov museum-reserve partners and the organisers of the summer international arts festival, discussed their plans for a grand event and further cooperation with the museum; they talked about the importance of such work for the museum's development, which should not simply be a place for preserving the past. While maintaining traditions, it is important to introduce innovative ideas, just as Vasily Polenov did in his day.

It will be a festival of cultural unification, attracting attention both to the classical art of Vasily Polenov's "Biblical period" and to the contemporary art of "The Promised Land", it will be presented here by the best Israeli authors and performers.

At the end of the press conference, Natalia Polenova, director of the historical, artistic and nature reserve, once again thanked all the partners and especially the festival's general sponsor, Shchekinoazot, who made it possible to implement such a large-scale cultural project.